Since we don’t have much time to look for breakfast we ended up, again, with McDonald’s! Well, it’s the same familiar fastfood, but it doesn’t mean that I have to eat the same familiar food. McDonald’s Hong Kong have some food not available in the Philippines, and one of them is this Grilled Chicken Twisty Pasta. Not bad but quite bland for my taste though.

Grilled Chicken Twisty PastaNot quite the usual macaroni we’re used toOne of the things I would love to have in McCafé Philippines: Gingerbread LatteEven their cakes look interesting!

It was also here where I brought my snack (a sandwich) for Disneyland. Note though that Disneyland does not allow hamburgers inside the resort, but they do allow sandwiches and water. After having breakfast and getting our takeouts, we were off for the MTR.

Hong Kong MTR Central StationHong Kong rush hourHere’s our line: bound for Tung ChungSince it’s a weekday and we’re at the first station, there’s hardly any passengerAt the MTR station bound for DisneylandHere’s our train!The distinct window of Disneyland-bound trainsInside are small statues of Disney charactersEven the handrails are Disney-themedAnother train bound for DisneylandThe front (or tail) of the train: notice that the center can be used as an exit during emergenciesWe have arrived! Yipee!Disneyland Resort StationTravel Tip: You may want to consider getting your return tickets upon arrival to save timeHi Mickey!One of the first thing you’d see at the resort: this wonderful fountain!Haha, poor Donald, he sunk his ship!Queuing up for ticketsHere it is! Woohoo!First glimpse of Disneyland resortLet’s go!The City HallThey even have a Fire Department! 🙂And of course, a huge Christmas treeDespite being a Tuesday, there were so many visitors to the resortLooking back at the treeThere it is: I’ve waited my whole life to see a Disneyland castleA manhole on the main roadOne of the very entertaining street performers of the resortOne of my childhood dreams come true!My first food from Disneyland: this is easily the best caramel popcorn I have ever tasted! No kidding!Going through the castle…The castle from behind

When I was a lot younger I really thought that a Disneyland castle was huge! Yes, it’s still big but it wasn’t as big as I had expected. Anyhow, crossing this landmark feature will take you to the resort’s attractions, and our first stop: Hong Kong Disneyland’s latest attraction, Toy Story Land.

This way, yehey!Group picture!Inside Toy Story Land you feel like one of Andy’s toysA broader view of Toy Story LandOne of the first “toys” that “played” with us were these toy soldiers. I remember having toys like these when I was little.Slinky Dog Spin: for very young kids or those who want to take it “easy”Toy Soldier Parachute Drop: For bigger kids, this should give them some added thrill, although not as much for adultsThe ride brings you up slowly and then drops you—in a very controlled manner so it’s more intimidating than it actually is. Great view at the top though!It’s our turn! Yipee!Now this is the ultimate: RC RacerIt takes you so high and so fast, it’s quite a rush! Too bad that it only takes about a minute to complete.Pathway leading to the queue to the RC RacerSome safety reminders

I wasn’t exactly carrying a compact so I wasn’t able to bring along my camera for the ride, so no pictures during the ride but it was definitely awesome!

Riding Tip: If you intend to ride all the attractions in Toy Story Land, I advise that you start with Slinky Dog Spin and end with RC Racer. We skipped Slinky and started with RC Racer, making the Parachute Drop feel dull.

Meet Cubot, a robot which has spinning blocks: looks like he caught someone’s attentionI remember having these monkeys as wellThe gang with Woody and Jessie at the Barrel of FunOf course Rex is also here! (Looks like he tangled himself up again)

After becoming toys ourselves in Toy Story Land, we were back to being big kids and went to our next stop: Philhar Magic. Think of it as Mickey’s orchestra, and although it’s not live, it is in 4D!

I like that attractions in Disneyland have timers that estimate on how long you’d wait in lineIt won’t be 4D if it doesn’t at least have 3D!Show’s about to start, shhh…After the show, I was so tempted to get this wizard Mickey toy! (Control, control)Instead I got this (secret :D)

After the show, it was lunchtime! There are a lot of places to eat around Disneyland, but we were away from most of them so we just ate our snacks. Oh, I also got this:

Thai Chicken: it doesn’t look appetizing but it actually tastes better than it looksThese birds aren’t afraid of people, in fact they love eating leftovers, particularly corn and popcorn!

At that time we did realize that a day is not enough to cover Disneyland, and since we were running out of time, we skipped the attractions with long lines to maximize our coverage.

Adventure Land, land of the Lion KingSome drums you can play withTarzan’s tree house

Of course, a trip to Disneyland won’t be complete if we didn’t meet, greet, and have a picture with the stars of Disneyworld.

Look who we stumbled into: it’s Minnie!My favorite sailor duck, DonaldPlaying with Pluto!Even if I only had this picture during this trip, I’d be satisfied! With my favorite mouse, Mickey! So glad to have finally met you!

To further improve our “coverage,” we hopped onto Disneyland’s train, coming from Fantasy Land Station at the back of the resort.

Mickey is also hereWait! Someone got left behind 🙂Fantasy Land StationAll aboard!Aboard the train. Choo, choo!I knew it! Aliens do exist! See, they even took our pictures!Disneyland Station: this is the one that we first saw in front of the resort

We were still able to squeeze in a quick visit to some attractions, including an interactive encounter with Stitch (where we all found out that he’s my former cellmate :D). Then it’s time for the Disneyland afternoon parade. The entire resort stops for this afternoon highlight and we were fortunate enough to pick a good spot.

Lotsa balloonsOf course this parade is really for kids 🙂The hungry birds are also hereDumbo starts the parade (there was an earlier float but I missed it when I went to the restroom :()Marching bandsDancers before Mickey and company’s floatHere they are!Notice they changed outfits for the paradeMickey on his flying shipHere comes Winnie the Pooh and the gangMore “hunny”Here comes the Disney PrincessesThe PrincessesHere comes the Jungle Book and Lion King floatsWild!TinkerbellInside her kettleEven the kids get to be part of the showHere comes Stitch (with Lilo of course)And finally, Toy StoryThat marks the end of the parade

As much as we’d love to stay longer for the fireworks display, we simply can’t. We had a ferry to catch to bring us back to Macau, so it was time for us to say goodbye to Hong Kong Disneyland. A day is simply too short to explore the resort completely, but despite having only hours we were able to bring back our youthful years as we get to relive being kids inside Disneyland.

Time to say goodbyeHeading outI’ll be back!Back at MTR station, returning to Hong Kong island

However short this Disneyland trip was, it fulfilled my childhood dream of going to Disneyland and meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and the rest of the gang. For a day I got to relive being a kid (or felt like a kid) and I had so much fun so imagine what I was like for the kids we were with! Yes, Disneyland is indeed a happy place: it’s like it’s Christmas there every day!